


Allergies

by Kerrigore



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Don't Gamble with Torb, Established Relationship, Flashbacks, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Humor, M/M, R76 Secret Santa, Sick Character, Super Soldiers Don't Get Sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 04:09:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13115718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerrigore/pseuds/Kerrigore
Summary: Gabriel returns from a mission to find Jack has fallen ill, so he decides to do his best to make him feel better.For reaperapologist. I am your dastardly, fluff-bringing Santa.





	Allergies

Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison never got sick. The Soldier Enhancement Program made sure of that, or at least it was supposed to.

_ “That’s ten Bastion units in ten shots,” Gabriel said, giving Jack a high five as he grinned madly at Torbjörn. They were both carrying high-powered sniper rifle prototypes that up until that point had needed testing. “You owe us twenty bucks.” _

_ “Each,” Jack added. “And home-cooked meals.” _

_ “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Torbjörn said, handing each of them their money. “You’ll have take the food up with the Missus the next time we see her.” _

_ “Tell her we can’t wait,” Gabriel said. _

_ “Really. We can’t. I’m starving.” Jack patted his stomach. “Blame the SEP.” _

_ Gabriel snickered, elbowing him playfully in the rubs. “I don’t think the SEP had much to do with it, Jackie boy.” _

_ “Give the program credit, Commander.” Torbjörn held up a hand. “They had to get a few things right considering they were basically throwing darts while blindfolded and drunk hoping something would stick.” _

_ “Hey, it got the job done. We survived Hell,” Gabriel put a thumb to his chest, “to come out on top; stronger, faster, disease immune.” _

_ “Still, their program lacked a certain... finesse.” Torbjörn started taking apart one of the rifles and putting it back in a case. “A certain magic touch.” _

_ Gabriel folded his arms. “Uh huh.” _

_ “I’m just saying with that carpet bombing method they’re bound to have missed something.” He smirked. “I bet you that twenty.” _

_ “You’re on Lindholm.” _

_ Torbjörn chuckled. “My money's on the common cold.” _

_ Gabriel scoffed. “I haven’t gotten a cold since before I enlisted. Keep dreaming.” _

_ “We’ll see Commander. We’ll see.” _

As it turned out, super soldiers could still catch a cold if the conditions were right. Gabriel was one of the most stressed out people during the Crisis, and managed to come down with a bad one on a mission knee-deep in Siberian snow. Jack had had the pleasure of taking care of him then. It became an in-joke amongst the original Strike Team, as Gabriel had insisted with his stuffy nose hovering above a mug of hot chocolate, that he wasn’t sick, he just had allergies.

Super soldier allergies.

Gabriel smiled fondly as he leaned back in his seat of the transport. They’d be landing in  Zürich soon, and he was looking forward to seeing Jack again after being away for a month running an operation out of Madagascar. He’d tried calling him as soon as they were airborne, but couldn’t reach him, not that Gabriel was worried about it. Jack had been busy as of late, and probably got caught up in the shit like he always did.

When they touched down Gabriel was the first out of his seat, but the last one out of the transport jet. He handled the debriefings, and the paperwork that came with them, before he was able to head to Jack’s office.

He punched in the code, and the automatic door opened for him. The person sitting at Jack’s desk was not Jack. “Ana?”

“Welcome back Gabriel,” she said, tablet in hand. “How was the mission?”

“Like taking a vacation into one of those shitty postcards. Where’s Jack at?”

“In his quarters,” Ana leveled her gaze with Gabriel’s. “He has allergies.”

Gabriel’s brow shot up. “Wait. Really? How bad? Like on the scale of one to grumpy blanket monster?”

“Worse than you were. He’s been an awful mess for a few days. I’ve been holding the fort in his stead, and doing my best to make him feel better, but you know how he is.”

“Thinks he can handle it himself.”

“Mhm.”

Gabriel sighed. “Good thing I’m home then. I’ll take it from here.” He started out into the hall, but turned on his heel to look back at Ana, hanging onto the door frame with one hand. Gabriel opened his mouth to speak, but Ana beat him to it.

“Yes, he’s slept and eaten. The mess has been bringing him room service. Angela’s seen him already, and no he’s not letting Torbjörn try out any of his family’s home remedies.”

Gabriel held up a finger.

“And of course he’s missed you. He complains that you’re not home every time I go and check on him. Now,” she ushered him out with a flick of her wrist, “get out of my office and tend to your husband.”

“Thanks Strike Commander Amari,” Gabriel gave a salute before he left. 

He went back to his quarters (which he mostly used for storage and to keep up appearances so the UN wouldn’t get all huffy) to grab a few things before heading to Jack’s sick cave. Gabriel was unreasonably excited at the prospect of taking care of him; a bit of kindness left unpaid from his own bout during the Crisis.

It didn’t take him long to get to Jack’s door and punch in the access code. The inside of Jack’s quarters were dark, and the automatic lighting didn’t come on when Gabriel walked in. Gabriel set a duffle bag and a stack of really nerdy board games down on the floor, taking with him a steel thermos. He headed for the bedroom, passing the aviary in the living room. Jack’s blue-winged macaw, Captain Flint, followed his movement, and gave a muted squawk when Gabriel waved.

Gabriel detoured to check and see if the bird had been fed, giving her a few rubs beneath her beak. Sure enough, her feeder was full and her water was fresh. Jack wouldn’t forget about his parrot, no matter what else he was dealing with. That made him feel slightly better at least.  

When Gabriel entered Jack’s room he saw a mound of blankets twisted up on his side of the bed. There were tissues scattered all over the place. Gabriel carefully approached, peeling back the layers to find Jack’s face buried in his pillow. He reached out and gently placed his hand on the back of Jack’s head, mussing up his hair.

“Hey. Jackie.”

Jack groaned in reply. “Ana leave me alone. I really don’t want any more herbal tea.” He shook his head, dragging his face against the pillow.

Gabriel smiled warmly as their gazes met like two weary travellers. He brushed his fingertips over Jack’s cheek and sat down on the bed. “I’m home.”

Jack didn’t say anything initially. He watched Gabriel with tired, puffy eyes and a nose so red it would put Rudolph to shame. Then, in an instant, Jack’s arms were hugging Gabriel’s waist and he’d pulled part of himself into Gabriel’s lap, face against his stomach. “Gabe. I’m so glad you’re back, and I know you probably smell awful, but I can’t smell anything right now so it really doesn’t matter. I fucking missed you.” His voice sounded scratchy, more raw than usual.

“I missed you too.” Gabriel had tossed on some deodorant before coming over, but it was no substitute for a good shower. “How are the allergies treating you?”

At that Jack groaned again, this one intentionally dramatic, “About as well as they did you. I feel like Death.”

“Well, I smell like him, so how about we hop in the shower and ward him off for a bit?”

“I'd like that.”

“But first,” Gabriel held the thermos above Jack, shaking it, “I brought you something.”

Jack eyed it, using Gabriel as leverage he pulled himself in a sitting position, though most of his weight was against Gabriel’s side. He snatched the thermos and unscrewed the cap, putting his nose over it. “Hot apple cider.” He sipped it happily, taking deep breaths in between to try to relieve some of the congestion. 

Gabriel could tell it wasn’t really working, but let Jack savor his drink, a real drink. He never really liked tea.

“Thank you,” Jack said.

“It’s the least I can do.”

Jack nudged him, “Damn right.”

It went unspoken, but neither of them enjoyed it when the other was away. Of course, they knew the work was necessary to keep their loved ones, including each other, safe, so they did it with only the necessary amount of complaining. Gabriel was glad to be back with his other half, though he wished they’d completed the mission a few days earlier so he could have been back sooner. The thought of Jack being sick by himself…

Gabriel rubbed Jack’s back, waiting for him to finish. “So, have you really been taking care of yourself like Ana said, or were you just placating her?”

“A bit of both...”

“Figured as much. Well, I’m here to bust your balls now too. C’mon. Shower time.”

“I don’t think I can stand right now to be honest,” Jack said.

“That’s alright,” Gabriel stood. He scooped Jack up, like Jack had done to him on their wedding day, and carried him to the bathroom. “You don’t have to do anything. I’m going to take care of you love.”

He set Jack on the toilet and ran the shower, closing the door to let the steam build up, then went about undressing them both. After, he helped Jack inside, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him close as they stood beneath the shower head. Jack’s chin rested on his shoulder. 

After a few moments Jack spoke, “This isn’t supposed to happen.”

“What isn’t?”

“I’m Strike Commander. People are counting on me. I’m not supposed to get sick.”

“Not your fault Jack,” Gabriel said, tone soothing. “We’re both allergic to high amounts of stress it seems. Even super soldiers have to take care of themselves.”

“I’m needed, Gabriel. I can’t slow down.”

“You have to if you want to get better.”

Jack sighed.

“Besides,” Gabriel’s hand moved up Jack’s spine, stopping to knead the tense muscle at the base of his neck, “that’s what Ana and I are around for; to take some of the load off. We’re partners Jack. We’re tackling this keeping the world safe thing together, like always.” He sighed. “You never have to do this alone.”

“I know… I’m just… Sorry Gabe.” His fingers dug into Gabriel’s back. “It’s pathetic, but I still don’t do well when you’re gone for so long. I’m used to having you at my back all the time, and when you’re not I feel… emptier than usual.”

“Nah. There’s nothing pathetic about needing me Jack. I need you too. The mission’s done. You probably don’t remember, but I put in for some time off before I went, so I’m all yours.”

Jack moved to look at him, “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Gabriel kissed Jack softly, almost tentatively until Jack grabbed his chin and pulled him in, deeping it, melting away the loneliness of a month. God, Gabriel missed him. His hands went to Jack’s hips. “What do you want Jack?” He asked between kisses.

“Scrambled eggs,” Jack replied.

Gabriel pulled back a little, lifting an eyebrow.

“And toast with jam cut into triangles.” Jack was grinning at him.

“You’re spoiled,” Gabriel said. He kissed Jack atop his head. “But you deserve it, so I’ll also make you some of my famous soup courtesy of  _ abuela _ Reyes. Anything else?”

“I’d like to be able to breathe out of my nose again.”

“We’ll work on that. I brought some board games for when you’re feeling up to playing.”

“Which ones?”

“Oh you know, Forbidden Island, King of Tokyo,... Pandemic.”

Jack fake punched Gabriel’s chest. “You cheeky bastard.”

Gabriel laughed.

“For that I want on demand cuddle time, a binge of my favorite reruns with zero complaints about the choice, and ice cream.”

“Done, done, and done.” Gabriel smiled, honestly having no arguments about any of his husband’s conditions. Getting to spend time with Jack and dote on him was exactly what Gabriel wanted.

Jack leaned down, pushing his head up underneath Gabriel’s chin.

“You ready to get out of the shower?”

“In a few.” He took a deep, relaxed breath. “I’d rather stay like this with you for a little longer.”

Gabriel wrapped his arms around Jack, cocooning him in his strong embrace. “But we’re going to prune.”

“I’m alright with that, so long as it’s with you.”

He chuckled. “Guess we’ll be a couple of prunes then. A couple of tired, possibly cranky,” Gabriel swayed his hips back and forth, “but still very sexy prunes.”

“You’re awful Gabe, but I’m glad you’re home.”

And Gabriel just smiled, truly happy to be where he belonged.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is for [reaperapologist](reaperapologist.tumblr.com) who gave me like three different things to work with, so I went more on the hurt/comfort angle with a surprise birb inclusion (and a book reference, of course). I hope you like it. <3 Happy holidays!
> 
> Thanks to Apostapal and Squeebop for beta reading.


End file.
